News Director 
Story By: MIKE FELTENBERGER / SHELLHAMMER DIRT TRACK – LEESPORT, PA – The racing action was fast and furious with all feature winners having more than 2 wins and adding 1 more Wednesday night.
The Junior Slingshots were 1st on the banked 1/8th mile and it was Aubrey Romig bringing the field to the green with Gavin Wolfe close by. A shuffling of the top 5 in the early stages of the 20 lap main saw Hailey Eroh vault from her 6th starting spot in 2nd by lap 5. Lap 6 saw a few position changes as Eroh got by Romig in turn 3, as Lily Barrett and Hailey Burnatowski muscled past Wolfe off of turn 2. A new face appeared in the top 5 on lap 13 as Barry Seaman slid under Wolfe coming off of turn 4 to inherit 5th. The next 5 laps were rather calm until lap 19 when Wolfe’s # 23G used a high side pass in turns 1 and 2 to slot in for 5th at the checker. Eroh got her 10th win as the lady racers took the top 4 spots with Romig 2nd, Barrett 3rd and Burnatowski 4th.
The 125 micros had an unusually low car count and it created a 20 lap non-stopper with early race leader Chris Dolan having no challengers until John Maurer’s bid for the win was successful with a turn 1 pass on lap 14. Point leader Dolan had a lap 16 challenge from Corey Harting but stayed focused to slot in for 2nd with Harting 3rd. Dylan Yeingst was 4th with Easton Miller and Blaire Schoenly trailing closely by for 5th and 6th.
The weekly $500 to win pot was what the Stage 1 Modifieds were racing for and after some early race stoppages the last 14 laps went without a hitch. The 1st lap battle heading into turn 1 saw Mark Mohr leave the lowside open and taking advantage of the clear track was AJ Gerhart as he took the lead only to have it called back for the 1st yellow. After 2 more yellows Gerhart regained the top spot and after 5 laps the Gerhart, Brett Smith show was on. Riley Wanamaker hopped into the winning car from last week and was quick through the field as she went from 9th to 3rd in just 4 laps. With laps clicking away and the field stretching out the top 3 were locked in until the 20 laps was completed. The battle now was for 4th as Johnny Fugelo and Jake Moyer ran close until the 2 to go sign was shown,when Fugelo used lapped traffic to get the advantage needed for a comfortable 4th. Moyer held on for 5th. Gerhart took the $500 winner’s money and his 6th Stage 1 win of 2024.
Two time winner Matt McAnally was in charge of bringing the 600 micro field to the green and after lap 3 there was nothing that was going to stop him, even from race challenges by Chase Wehr, Ryan Rochelle, Luke Hess and Geezer Fanelli. At the halfway point it was now McAnally having to ward off both Wehr and Rochelle ,who really had the low groove mastered. Behind these 3, Fanelli, JT Bierman and Adam Buchel were mixing it up for 4th. McAnally’s lead was now shrunk with a lap 17 yellow and Rochelle’s lowside passing attempt was thwarted by McAnally as the pair headed into turn 1. McAnally got his 3rd 600 micro win for the year with the next 4 drivers separated by less than 1 second. Rounding out the top 5 was Rochelle, Wehr, Bierman and 10th starting Adam Buchel.
A strong field of All Star Slingshots also had some early race slowdowns, but once things calmed down,the racing was incredible. Lindsey Garl drag raced Dan Lane,Jr. to turn 1 and was the leader off of turn 2. Lane,Jr. left the inside groove open as Jason Dunkelberger and Brett Bieber used it to their advantage with last week’s winner Tess Horvath a strong 5th. A lap 9 caution had Horvath involved with a DNF ruining a good night. Bieber got by Dunkelberger on lap 8 and the opening night winner set sail to keep Garl from getting win # 4. Both Colton Williams and Darian Danyluk slipped past Lane,Jr. on lap 10 and it was these 5 under the checker and Garl getting her 4th win over Bieber with Dunkelberger,Williams and Danyluk the remaining top 5 runners. Rallying back for 6th after being involved in an earlier race incident was Jocelynn Darinsig. Anthony Ciccone improved 5 spots to slot in at 7th.
The Matt McAnally double looked promising with the 270 micros being the final A Main of the evening. The early going of the 20 lapper wasn’t easy for Matt as Jacob Neff shadowed his every move and just didn’t have enough to overtake Matt. Last week’s winner Adam Buchel improved 3 spots into 3rd after just 4 laps completed. with John Maurer gaining speed as the race wore on. Dylan Kuronya slotted in at 5th and on lap 15, a turn 3 pass on lap 14 had Dylan ahead of Buchel into 4th. Maurer closed the leader’s gap rather quickly and tried a highside pass on lap 18 that fell a little short as McAnally mirrored what Buchel did last week by winning both the 270 and 600 micro mains. Notching 2nd was Maurer with Kuronya and Buchel getting by Neff for 3rd and 4th with Neff getting 5th. Highlight of the race was Matt Bangs taking a tumble in turn 4 bringing out the red, but righting the car and regaining momentum to get a much deserved 6th.
Final checker at 9:27 with everyone paid and heading home by 9:45. Making sure the younger racers in the Junior Slingshot class get home early enough for school, their checker was thrown at 8:17 PM.
Wingless Weds. racing continues at Shellhammer Dirt Track for 2 more races as their 2024 season comes to a close Sept. 25th.
